Humidifier and heater



Nov. 11, 1930. c, w s 1,781,515

HUMIDIFIER AND HEATER Filed March 14, 1928 J 111L511 l rueys STATES PATENT CROLL E. LEWIS, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO THE LEWIS CORPORA- TION, INU, F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF NEW MEGO numrmrrna AND nna'rna Application filed March 14, 1928. Serial No. 261,576.

This invention relates to devices for humidifying and thermally treating air. While the invention is capable of wide application, it is particularly designed for use in heating and humidifying the air in dwellings and other buildings. The problem .of having adequate moisture in' dwellings and oflices has of late. received much attention from building and heating engineers and humidim fiers are now specified by architects and enfilms of water, the flow of said water gmeers in many buildings. A successful humidifying device should have a maximum evaporative capacity, high humidifying efficiency, should be automatically controlled and be economical to operate.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a simple but highly eficient device for humidifying, heating or cooling the air of a room, as well as for accelerating the circulation of the air.

A further ob'ect of the invention is to provide a humidi ing device, wherein a draft of'air is forced through a series of s aced emg oppositely to the direction of the air, thereby giving the device extremely high evaporative capacity.

Another. object is to provide a device of the class described wherein the current of heated air is forced through a series of parallel inclined plates in an upward direction over which plates films of water may pass, the air passing in a direction opposite to that of the water and being impinged against said plates whereby a scru bing or washing action will take place in the passage of air.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a humidifying and heating device wherein a current of cool air is caused to pass through a radiator of high efficiency becoming in its passage heated to a tem erature above that required, said heated air being then forcibly passed through a series of spaced inclined plates-having transverse corrugations thereon, said corrugations spreadmg while permitting a relatively slow passa e of said film downwardlyin the op osite (firection from the forced passage of air.

A still further-object of the invention is the water over said plates in a th1n filmto provide in a device of the class described, mechanism for setting up a forced circulation of air and for distributing the water to the plates, which will be eflicient and noiseless, together with mechanism for automatically controlling the humidity of a room in which said device is placed as well 'as the temperature thereof.

These and otherobjects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiof the casing being broken away to show the apparatus therewithin ig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing the means for distributing water to the evaporating plates and showing the upper end of the flue in plan; and

Fig. 4. is a fragmentary vertical section through the flue showing the specific structure of the evaporating plates.

As shown in the drawings, I provide an ornamental casing 5 having front, rear and end walls and provided with an intermediate horizontal partition 6 defining up er and lower chambers, said lower chamber eing open at its bottom, and casing 5 being mounted on suitable legs 7 to permit free circulation of air upwardly therethrough. The upper chamber of easing 5 is closed at its rear, top and end walls, and a grille 5* is formed in the forward wall permitting discharge of heated air. Within the lower portion of easing 5 I mount a radiator R of the type designed for use in unit heaters the air passages through said radiator extending longitudinally and horizontally of easing 5. Any suitable means, such as a strap 8 having its upturned ends spot welded to the front and rear walls of casing 5 may be provided for supporting radiator R and the upper tank 9 of the radiator may be connected with the output pipe 10 of a hot water or steam circulating system, while the lower radiator tank 11 may be connected with the return pipe 12 of said circulating system. A suitable fan 13 propelled by an electric motor 14 is mounted at one end of radiator It, said motor preferably being of the noiseless or brushless type and mounted in any suitable manner, such as by means of a 7 suitable source of electricity and a thermostat- .ically controlled switch T is connected in the electrical circuit through said fan adapted to cause the circuit to be opened when the temperature exceeds a predetermined degree. Between the front and rear Walls of casing 5 and communicating with the output side of radiator R an arcuate or segmental flue 18 is mounted having its upper end in communication with the upper chamber of casing 5 above partition 6. Flue 18 may comprise a suitable sheet metal casing having at its lower end a'depending drain trough 18 connected to a. drain conduit 19, and having vertical side walls 18.

A series of equally spaced concentric plates 20 are mounted between the front and rear walls of flue 18, said plates being inclined and as illustrated, extending arcuately. Each of said plates 20 is provided with a series of relatively shallow transverse corrugations 20, said corrugations extending throughout the entire area of the plates. Plates 20 may terminate at their lower ends short of radiator R in order that they'all may deliver to drain trough 18 Water may be supplied to and evenly distributed upon the upper ends of plates 20 by suitable means, such as the U-shaped conduit 21 suitably connected to a source of water supply by a relatively small pipe 22. The parallel sides of conduit 21 are provided with spaced ports 21 one of said ports preferably being'provided for each of plates 20 and the ports of said two sides converging to cause minute streams of water to cross. I 1

A suitable pressure regulating valve 23 is connected with a source of water supply and is controlled by means of an automatic humidity regulator 23*, which may be of any suitable type such as the automatic humidlty control, manufactured by The Bahnson Company, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Operation The operation of my device may be briefly described as follows When it is desired to humidify and heat a dwelling or other building, the circuit through motor 14 is closed, causing fan 1;; to revolve noiselessly and at high speed and to set up a forced current of air through radiator R and-flue 18. The supply of cool air for said current is taken from below casing 5 and in passing through the highly efficient radiator R is heated to a temperature considerably above the temperature desired, when the air is discharged into the room. Small streams of water will be distributed upon the upper ends of plates 20 from the U-shaped sprinkler 21 and with the eflicient arrangement of sprinkler ports in the two-legs of the U-shaped conduit, each of plates 20 will be adequately supplied with water. Water will gradually trickle down. the plates successively filling the various corrugations and overflowing to fill the next corrugation and in so doing will cause thin films of water to be formed on each of the plates, said films passing slowly in a downward direction and in a direction opposite to the swift flow of heated air through flue 18. The air having been heated to a relatively high temperature will have a high evaporative capacity and will furtherrub and be impinged against the several films of water traveling over said plates, since said plates are of arcuate shape and since the air intake of fine 18 is substantially horizontal. The corrugated plates produce a scrubbing action on the air and a maximum evaporation of water takes place when fan 13 is in operation. Only a small amount of water will reach its way to the drain trough 18*. The small amounts of water drop from the lower edges of the plates 2 in the manner of small waterfalls and it will be noticed that the heated air passes through the dropping water and is eifectively washed in so doing. During the evaporation step it will, of course, be obvious that the temperature of the air will be substantially lowered and the various pieces of apparatus are so adjusted that under normal conditions air will be delivered to the'upper chamber of casing 5 at the temperature desired to adequately the thermostat will act upon the switch T opening the circuit through the motor 14. Consequently, only a small amount of air will pass upwardly through the plates 20' and the temperature within the room will be re- 22 will be reduced or cut off. The humidity of the room, as well as the temperature, therefore, is automatically regulated by my device. r

In warm weather when the circulating heating system for the building is not in use,

air may be circulated in the room and the room cooled by operating my device. Here a cool current of air is set up through the plates 20 in flue 18, the air being moistened and evaporating a certain amount of the water passing down said plates. This evaporation, of course, moistens the air and causes cool air to be delivered through the grille 5 into the room.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a comparatively simple but highly eflicient device adapted to humidify, heat or cool the air of a room, as 'well as cause efficient circulation of said air. The evaporative capacity of my humidifier is very high and the device may be run very economically, since only a small motor is required and since that motor is automatically controlled by means of a thermostatic switch. The construction of the device, including the arcuately inclined corrugated plates through which a swift current of air is passed causes a maximum evaporation, the flow of the film of water being opposite to the passage of the heated air.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportionsof the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In air humidifying apparatus, an inclined evaporating flue having an air intake at its lower end and an air outlet at its upper end, a plurality of spaced inclined evaporating plates mounted in saidflue, means for distributing liquid upon the upper portions of said evaporating plates, a fan for setting up an upward circulation of air through said flue passing over and impinged against said plates, said plates each having a series of relatively narrow transverse grooves therein, wherein water will lodge until said grooves are filled, said grooves being successively filled by said water and spreading said water over said plates in a thin film.

2'. In air humidifying apparatus, an in-- clined evaporating flue having an air in take at the lower end thereof and an air outlet at the upper end thereof, a series of spaced arcuate evaporating plates mounted in said flue with their upper edges disposed adjacent the said air outlet and with their lower edges disposed adjacent the air intake,

means for distributing a supply of water upon the upper portions of said evaporating plates to cause sheets of water to pass downwardly over the concave surfaces ofsaid plates, and means for setting up an upward circulation of air between said plates, said air, because of the arcuate shape of said plates, being constantly impinged against the concave surfaces thereof.

3. In air humidifying apparatus, a curved and inclined evaporating flue having an air intake at its lower end and an air outlet at its upper end, a series of spaced evaporating plates extending from points adjacent the air outlet of said flue to points adjacent the air intake of said flue and curved downwardly and inwardly, means for distributing a supply of water upon the upper portions and concave surfaces of said evaporating plates, the concave surfaces of said plates having a series of relatively narrow grooves therein, wherein water will lodge until said grooves are filled, said grooves being successively filled by said water and spreading said water over said plates in a thin film, and means for setting up an upward circulation of air between said plates, said air being constantly impinged against the concave surfaces thereof.

4. In air humidifying and conditioning apparatus, an arcuate evaporating flue having a vertically disposed lower end and a substantially horizontal upper end, a series of spaced arcuate evaporating plates extending from points adjacent the upper end of said flue to points adjacent the lower end of said flue, means for distributing a supply of water upon the upper portions and concave surfaces of said evaporating plates, a heatin unit coupled with the lower end of said ue and a fan associated with said heating unit for setting up an upward circulation of air impinged against the concave surfaces of said plates.

5. In air humidifying apparatus, a series of inclined spaced evaporating plates, means for distributing a supply of water upon the upper portions of said plates, said plates having a series of transverse relatively narrow grooves upon their u per surfaces,

wherein water will lodge until said grooves are filled, said grooves being successively filled and thereby spreading said water over said plates in a thin film, means for setting up an upward circulation of air between said plates, the lower edges of said plates being disposed substantially horizontally, whereby unevaporated water will fall therefrom producing sheets of Water through which entering air will pass and be washed.

"In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CARROLL E. LEWIS. 

